CAPE CANAVERAL SPACE FORCE STATION — Despite pushing the launch time back, SpaceX was able to launch more than 20 Starlink satellites under good weather on Monday evening.  


What You Need To Know

  • SpaceX sent off the Starlink 12-7 mission

  • The company’s Falcon 9 rocket took off from Space Launch Complex 40

The Falcon 9 rocket sent up Starlink 12-7 mission from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, stated SpaceX

The launch window originally was set to open at 3:22 p.m. ET, but was pushed back to 5:05 p.m. ET. The window was set to close at 6:21 p.m. ET.

The 45th Weather Squadron gave a 95% chance of good liftoff conditions, with the only concerns being the cumulus cloud rule. . 

Find out more about the weather criteria for a Falcon 9 launch.

If the launch is scrubbed, the next attempt would have been on Tuesday starting at 2:50 p.m. ET.

The Big 2-0

This will be the 20th launch for the Falcon 9's first-stage booster B1076. It has quite a record of launching various kinds of satellites.

  1. CRS-26
  2. OneWeb Flight 16
  3. Intelsat IS-40e
  4. Starlink Group 6-1 mission
  5. Starlink Group 6-3 mission
  6. Starlink Group 6-6 mission
  7. Starlink Group 6-14 mission
  8. Starlink Group 6-21 mission
  9. SES O3B-mPOWER
  10. Ovzon-3
  11. Starlink Group 6-40 mission
  12. Eutelsat 36D
  13. Starlink 6-54
  14. Starlink Group 6-64 mission
  15. Turksat 6A
  16. Maxar 2 mission
  17. Starlink 8-19 mission
  18. Starlink 6-68 mission
  19. Sirius SXM-9 mission

After the stage separation, the first-stage rocket landed on the droneship A Shortfall of Gravitas that will be in the Atlantic Ocean.

About the mission

The 21 satellites, including 13 that have direct-to-cell service, are from the Starlink company. They will be going to low-Earth orbit.

SpaceX owns the Starlink company.

Once positioned and in orbit, they will provide internet service to many parts of Earth.

Harvard-Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics’ Dr. Jonathan McDowell keeps track of Starlink satellites.

Before this launch, McDowell recorded the following:

  • 6,982 are in orbit
  • 6,243 are in operational orbit

 

Anthony Leone - Digital Media Producer

Anthony has a long career as an editor and reporter for newspapers and news websites. He has covered general and breaking news, crime, and politics. In addition, he also covers space and rocket launches, where he has won awards for this coverage.

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